Chapter 27: I Am the Bane of the Abyss God! The Little Bug Genius!

"Cough, cough, cough! Damn this dungeon! How can there be a BOSS this strong?"

Tu Xingsun lunged violently from beneath the ground.

His body was covered in dozens of wounds, large and small, and the blood flowing from them had already dyed his entire school uniform a deep crimson.

These were merely external injuries; his internal organs were an unknown variable, but every breath felt like his chest was being scorched by fire, suggesting his internal injuries were likely just as severe.

He had almost died.

Fortunately, he had managed to distance himself from the battlefield, using a certain escape skill to reach the edge of the school playground.

He was far away from the teaching building now.

"Damn it! Why did it fail?" Tu Xingsun cursed as he fumbled a ridiculous hat out of his pocket.

It was shaped like a wild mushroom commonly found in the mountains.

Opening his equipment panel, he saw—

【Mushroom Hat (Contaminated)】

【Equipment Effect: While wearing this hat and remaining stationary, you can rapidly erase your presence, making others perceive you as nothing more than a harmless mushroom.】

【Note: I am a mushroom. What are you?】

The moment Principal Wang appeared, Tu Xingsun had immediately put the hat on and hidden behind a tree, attempting to slip by unnoticed.

Unexpectedly, the opponent had merely rotated a black ring on his pinky finger.

The hat on his head instantly became as difficult to touch as a piece of red-hot iron.

Then, the words "Contaminated" appeared.

Furthermore, it could no longer be stored in his inventory.

This was simply too eerie.

He had never encountered a BOSS capable of directly affecting inventory usage.

That thing was beyond their ability to contend with!

"Brother Baili, Brother Shigan, my apologies, but I'm going to keep the dungeon rewards for myself."

Despite his severe injuries, a smile flickered across Tu Xingsun's face.

He felt his waist; the box of pigments was still there.

Once Principal Wang had killed those two, he would head to the Art Building alone tomorrow to investigate.

He would enjoy the rewards all to himself!

"Have you run enough?"

Just as Tu Xingsun was preparing to head back to the dormitory, a familiar voice rang in his ear.

In an instant, his surroundings began to shift.

He was back where he had started.

Baili Dao and Shi Gandang were already lying on the ground, motionless, their fates unknown.

Looking up, he saw that mountain-like, bloated carcass; the opponent was gently rotating a white ring.

Spatial Transfer!

Damn it! He wasn't even in the creature's line of sight!

"As long as you are in this school, it is impossible for you to escape my control!" Principal Wang's mocking smile was exceptionally hideous, the corners of his mouth curling up almost to his ears.

He was invincible here!

Never mind Tu Xingsun; even Sun Wukong wouldn't be able to escape his palm!

"Principal... we were only trying to help you catch the truants!" Seeing that escape was impossible, Tu Xingsun immediately tried to justify their actions: "We have reliable information that the truants are plotting something in the Art Building!"

"So we wanted to share your burden, to investigate and capture those audacious students."

"It doesn't matter if you kill us, but you cannot let the students escape!"

He was doing his best to make excuses.

After all, their mission was ultimately to assist the Ghost School!

As long as Principal Wang was willing to listen, he wouldn't mind being held accountable later.

At least for now, he had to survive!

To his surprise, the mockery on the opponent's face only intensified.

The Principal raised a hand as thick as a cement pillar, gripping both of Tu Xingsun's arms.

With a gentle pull to either side—

*Sss—*

Like an ant caught by a mischievous child, Tu Xingsun's arms were torn away with ease.

"Do you see? To me, you are all just toys. Even if you added all the students in the school together, you would just be more toys." Principal Wang casually crushed Tu Xingsun's legs into pulp as he continued, "Toys cannot run away."

It's over...

Tu Xingsun's consciousness began to fade.

He suddenly realized the most bizarre aspect of this dungeon.

With such a powerful Ghost School and Principal...

Could a student ever truly escape?

What was the necessity of catching the truants in the first place?

With an expression of despair, he saw Principal Wang press a finger against his head.

*Splat—*

His skull exploded like a watermelon dropped on the ground.

Principal Wang used his fingernail to delicately hook the pigment box out of the pool of "watermelon juice."

He carefully placed it back into his pocket.

He couldn't help but think of the aura within the Art Building.

Looking down contemptuously at the fallen Baili Dao and Shi Gandang, he said, "I think you two are the ones who look like truants. Do you actually think you can find your way to the Art Building?"

"You have no idea what terrifying existence lies there. You don't even have the right to approach Him."

Principal Wang knew better than anyone.

The aura behind the door of the broadcasting room.

No one in the entire school, except himself, could approach it.

Even he had to use these ten specially made rings to slowly steal and habituate himself to that aura over decades before he could barely stand in the broadcasting room, bathed in His gaze.

That feeling was simply intoxicating!

And in three days, that aura would be entirely his to command!

At that time, the fame of Gaoshan High School would reach even greater heights!

Thinking of this, a near-ecstatic Principal Wang pressed his finger onto Shi Gandang's head.

*Splat—*

Freshly squeezed watermelon juice number two was served.

He then turned his gaze toward Baili Dao.

"Moshi moshi~"

"Hello, dear audience! Welcome to 'Your Moon is My Heart, The Good Man is Me, I am—Wang Zhiyong.'"

Before Principal Wang could strike again, a strange, peculiar voice echoed throughout the campus.

Even though it was past midnight, every student in the school sat bolt upright in their beds.

Everyone looked at each other and toward the teaching building with confused expressions.

This was something they had never heard before.

And Principal Wang's arrogant, unrestrained expression instantly turned deathly pale.

"Is this... a broadcast?" Baili Dao lay weakly on the ground, his body powerless, but his mind still functioning.

Gaoshan High School had no broadcasting system.

The players' two days of exploration had already accepted this as a fact.

There were only countless clocks within the Ghost School.

The only thing capable of spreading sound throughout the school was the bell at the bell tower used for classes.

So where was this eerie broadcast coming from?

Though he didn't know any Wang Zhiyong...

This tone...

Why did it feel strangely familiar?

"Next, I want to tell you all a story about my younger brother... actually, never mind, that's too long. Let's get straight to business." Wu Wang, looking somewhat pale, made a suggestive joke into the microphone.

He was sitting inside the broadcasting room.

Beside him stood a helpless-looking Li Yang.

Li Yang had one hand on each of two identical, chubby boys.

The two boys had glazed eyes, their hands constantly attempting to strangle each other's necks.

It was unclear where Li Yang got the strength to hold them both at once.

"First, a secret that both your homeroom teacher and Principal Wang have been hiding from you—"

"At Gaoshan High School, someone successfully escaped in the past."

As soon as these words were spoken, whispers broke out in the otherwise quiet dormitory buildings.

But only a second later, Principal Wang's furious voice also echoed across the campus.

"Who are you! How did you get in there!"

The door to the broadcasting room was protected by His aura!

Who could just walk in?!

"Who am I? Since you've asked so sincerely, I shall be merciful and tell you!"

"To prevent the world from being destroyed, to maintain the peace of the world."

"To carry out love and true evil, a cute and charming villain."

"I am the Bane of the Abyss God!"

With every sentence Wu Wang spoke, the red light of the vertical pupil on his wrist became more sinister.

His face grew increasingly pale.

By the time he finished the last sentence, the life force within his body had been completely drained.

He collapsed in front of the microphone, his face ashen.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, he sat back up, his complexion once again rosy.

A rare expression of confusion appeared within those sketch-like red vertical pupils.

*Holy crap! Where did all the life force I absorbed for half the day go?*

————

Returning to the time before he entered.

Wu Wang had hit a bug again.

The moment the red vertical pupil on the broadcasting room door encountered him, it was immediately absorbed and devoured by the one on his wrist.

While he could use the microphone to broadcast to the whole school normally, it came with a drawback—

Every sentence would cause the red vertical pupil to absorb a massive amount of life force.

However, his [Undying] ability caused the lost life force to return to him intact.

Thus, a closed loop was formed within his body.

The Abyss God Mark was like someone eating air; no matter how much it ate, it could never be full.

The microphone could be exploited by him infinitely.

In Wu Wang's hand was a notebook he had snatched from the Ghost Chubby.

【Wang Zhiyong's Daily Log: Recording unspeakable secrets】

【I successfully escaped school today】

【I am ready to spread my wings and fly tomorrow】

【But I already died yesterday】

"Actually, my name isn't important; rather, yours is," Wu Wang broadcasted to the entire school, word by word, after his resurrection.

"Am I right, Principal Wang? Or should I call you..."

"The first person in the history of Gaoshan High School to successfully escape—Wang Zhiyong."

(End of Chapter)